Judgment, No. 1

Pictorial Evidence
Gorgeous. Yummy. Obviously enticing. It just makes you want melt in a world of magic, where even booze is classy. It will be vapid, shallow, but sparkly. There will be fantasy against a backdrop of history, where it's true to the time but enhances all the glamour we've imagined for it. With the title so bold, the implications so obvious, the novel doesn't seem to be trying to be anything it isn't. It will be a vixen, teasing for teasing's sake, always keeping at arm's length, never going deeper, never showing fragility or vulnerability, only ever being something beautiful. A puff of smoke meant to excite and entice till all we want is more even if, simultaneously, we remain completely away of how shallow it really is.

And, okay, the armpit is a little freaky.

Cover Story
The basic storyline is this: A sheltered teenage girl is getting married to the golden boy and she's unhappy about it. Wants to live a little, experience the gilded age with a little more thrills and a lot more booze. Then, the other girls: The cousin, a society girl with a dirty secret, sure to get her into trouble. Probably a lover who won't take no for an answer and things will get dirty and desperate real fast. The quiet best friend, second to the spoiled cover character. She'll probably be the root of the drama. She's the one who's been sequestered to the background, a shadow often forgot. She'll start plotting against the ungrateful girl, desperate to have everything the other seems just as desperate to throw away.

And you just know the main girl won't stay faithful to her intended. There will just have to be a love triangle. A boy will come into the picture--some bright, young thing. Blonde, blue eyes. Maybe a scandalous affair with that inappropriate bad boy--opposites attract, right? The best friend will probably fall for the fiance or at least fall in with him. And all these conflicting emotions will tear these fragile relationships apart. Completely.

Since this is only the first part of a series, you know the climax will be gruesome. They'll all hate each other by the end. Except maybe the cousin and the main girl. They'll probably have some sort of camaraderie born from their shared infidelities or other desperate secrets.

Closing Statement
Will it be good? Oh, I hope so. Nothing like a few romantic scandals to keep you turning pages. Such a silly, operatic story--it's just what you want to curl up with to forget the mundane realities around you. I doubt it will disappoint. It definitely won't be anything of merit beyond the shallow confines of Young Adult fiction, but it will shine there. Something utterly divine and addicting. I just want to rip it open and slip in, escaping to the selfish and immature "Roaring 20's" where laws were something to laugh at and worrying was a pastime for the parents.

It just sounds...yummy.